ICR Makes Major Contributions to ICC

by
Larry Vardiman, Ph.D. *

A major portion of the research reported at the 6th International Conference on Creationism (ICC) during August 3-7, 2008, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was conducted by scientists associated with ICR. Of over 40 lectures at the conference, more than a fourth were presented by ICR scientists or associates. A significant portion of the funding for the research came from ICR donors, and ICR provided two members to the executive organizing committee, several editors, and funded the desktop publishing of the proceedings. Three of the four speakers for the evening sessions were ICR scientists. So, in addition to being a co-sponsor, ICR contributed prominently to the conference. The average daily attendance, including authors, editors, vendors, and volunteers, was 420. A standing room-only crowd averaged 600 on each of the four evenings. Participants came from 36 states and 14 countries.

Dr. Russell Humphreys opened the conference on Sunday evening with a presentation entitled "Why Is the 'Age-Issue' Important to the Origins Debate and in Particular to the Creation Model of Origins?" Dr. Steve Austin followed on Monday evening with "Understanding the Mudflow Revolution," a potential explanation for 70 percent of the sedimentary layers deposited on the earth due to the Genesis Flood. On Tuesday evening Dr. John Baumgardner discussed "Catastrophic Plate Tectonics: A Mechanism for the Flood." And on Wednesday evening, during the banquet, Dr. Andrew Snelling delivered a charge to creationist researchers entitled "The Creation Model: Its Past, Its Present and Its Necessary Future."

The ICC has occurred every 4-5 years since 1986. It typically offers exciting, original scientific papers on creationist research by many of the world's leading creationist researchers. This year's conference was no different. A few such papers this year were: "Starlight, Time, and the New Physics" by John Hartnett; "Simulation Analysis of Glacial Surging in the Des Moines Ice Lobe" by Jesse Sherburn, Mark Horstemeyer, and Kiran Solanki; "The 'Eve' Mitochondrial Consensus Sequence" by Robert Carter, Dan Criswell, and John Sanford; "Using Suites of Criteria to Recognize Pre-Flood, Flood, and Post-Flood Strata in the Rock Record with Applications to Wyoming (USA)" by John Whitmore and Paul Garner; "Is the Moon's Orbit 'Ringing' from an Asteroid Collision Event which Triggered the Flood?" by Ronald Samec; "Using Numerical Simulation to Test the Validity of Neo-Darwinian Theory" by John Sanford, John Baumgardner, Wesley Brewer, Walter ReMine, and Paul Gibson; and "Rapid and Early Post-Flood Mammalian Diversification Evidenced in the Green River Formation" by John Whitmore and Kurt Wise.

At most scientific conferences, much of the interaction among scientists occurs in the halls and during meals. To encourage this exchange of ideas, the period between the last regular session and the evening plenary session was two hours long. By the amount of discussion among conferees, it was clear that many plans were being laid for future research. In addition, special sessions were held and announcements made to encourage researchers, including graduate students, to apply for funding for new research. For example, ICR announced its new initiative, the National Creation Science Foundation (NCSF), an effort to encourage creationist research through a formal proposal process similar to conventional research funding. (Visit www.icr.org/ncsf for more details.)

The ICC papers listed below are available in PDF format on the ICR website. Otherwise, you can get much of the content of the conference by ordering the hard copy Proceedings and/or the electronic Proceedings, and even a CD with the PowerPoint presentations given by many of the authors. You can order these materials at www.icc08.org/proceedings.htm.